Devotionals with toddlers

One of my most important goals with my little guy is to teach him about Jesus and our faith!  I want him to know the Lord, that He loves us, died for our sins, wants a personal relationship with us.  The big question now is HOW do you go about teaching a 15 month old these things?  Well, besides us teaching him to pray with our daily prayers and our mealtime prayers, I wanted to try doing some kind of devotional with Jesse.  After looking online for some kind of devotional book geared for little, little guys, I drew a blank!  I found nothing that I really liked or felt led to use.

Now enter in awesome book purchased from Target...

The DH and I were at Target and came across this very precious bedtime prayer board book

This sweet book is essentially a devotional and just what I was looking for.  Each devotion has a corresponding bible verse and a little prayer.  The devotions are simple and rhyming and there are some adorable illustrations on each page.  

Ok, now the question became "how to I implement the devotions with my son - besides just reading it like a regular book?"

Here is how we're making it work so far...

• We are focusing on a devotional for at least a week
• I turned the rhyming devotion into a song
• I'm teaching my son American Sign Language (ASL), so I learned several signs from each line and sign and sing the devotion
• I wrote the devotional with dry erase marker on an 8x10 empty picture frame (mainly for myself so I could memorize the devotion without referring to the book) and hung it in a high traffic area (our dining room).  

This is what my picture frame devotional looks like so far.  I want to either put some neutral decorative paper in the frame or even print up the devotional with some of my scrapbook software.  I've even considered scanning the devotional from the book and printing it out so that it has the cute illustrations in my frame.  But for now, this works and allows me to reference the devotional frequently with my son.  I put the short prayer from the book in a different color so that I can easily see it and so it breaks up the devotional and the song.  I put a song that I wanted to teach Jesse on there at the bottom and we usually sing that after we sing the devotional.  

So, "how is the devotional working so far?" you may ask...

Well, using the signs (ASL) really helped me memorize the devotional and I loved that the devotional I chose to start with had a few signs we already were practicing.  I've noticed that when I sing the devotional, Jesse tries to sign along with me and hums along.  I've also been singing it when Jesse is crying or upset (because the devotional is about how God will comfort you when you're sad) and it's worked as a nice distraction and an applicable lesson!  In all, I'd say it's working wonderfully and I plan on continuing my Toddler Devotionals!!  

Ice Cube Sensory Tub

(15 Months)
(Sensory Motor Skills- Children use their senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, to guide and integrate their interactions)

I recently had an opportunity to try out another sensory tub (June 15, 2012).  I've been waiting for a nice sunny day to do some water sensory with the little guy but it's just been cloudy and rainy and just plain cold!  I decided that I didn't want to wait any longer and planned for some fun in the bathtub!

So what was in the sensory tub??  I got the ice cube tray ready poured water into it and put some frozen fruit in a few spots and then filled a few with some food coloring.  Inside the bin (in my case a large plastic drawer) I put some water, large spoons, and measuring cups.

To prep the bathroom, I had to put a floor heater on the counter to make sure the room was warm enough considering that the little guy was playing with ice.  I think I should have used colder water in the bin though because the ice melted pretty quickly.  (quick question...why did I all of a sudden start interchanging "tub" and "bin"?? Who knows).  As you can see he had a blast and of course had to eat ALL of the fruit.  I didn't put many colored ice cubes in the water and only used blue and yellow ice cubes, hence the slightly green tinged water in the tub.

Toddler Time - Cornmeal Sensory Bin

(14.5 Months)
(Sensory Motor Skills- Children use their senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, to guide and integrate their interactions)

I tried my hand at a sensory bin awhile ago.  It wasn't the huge success that I had thought it'd be but my little guy did enjoy it.

We are on a budget, so I knew I couldn't go out and buy a bunch of stuff.  I had to be resourceful and use things that were actually around the house.  We have some Tupperware drawers that weren't really being used so I decided that would be what I placed the sensory stuff in.  We also had 2 boxes of cornmeal and I just could not see us using them both up any time soon!

Jesse hasn't played in sand yet and he also puts everything in his mouth still so I really wanted to create something that if swallowed wouldn't be a big deal.  The cornmeal was perfect for this and I also decided to put some raisins and uncooked rice in the batch as well.  To make it more interesting I threw in a few toys and some measuring spoons.

I knew I didn't have enough cornmeal to fill the bottom of that Tupperware drawer so I had to put the mixture in a smaller container and just used the drawer to try to contain the mess.  

I blocked off the kitchen and let him go at it.  At first he didn't quite know what to do and wasn't really interested.  I ended up giving him the measuring cups and spoons after a few minutes at which point began the real fun!  Soon corn meal was all over him and all over me, but what mattered was he was having fun and getting some practice scooping things up with the spoons!  

I only let him use this a couple times afterwards.  He was pretty much over the activity, as was I!  Next time I think I would leave out the raisins and the rice.  Surprisingly, he never tried to eat any of bin contents!!  

Toddler Time - Mega Blocks

(14.5 Months)

So I know that my son is only 14.5 months, but he is very eager to learn new things and has been catching on to things so quickly!!  I've been doing some research online and found a lot of parents "schooling" their little ones during what has been coined "toddler time".  Toddler Time is simply special time set aside each day to focus on the toddler.  During this focused time, the toddler is exposed to early learning skills through fun play.

I know I try to make every situation a learning situation but today I decided to intentionally set aside some "toddler time" and try to document it and take some notes on the activity.

I started out with something simple: Fine Motor Skills (playing with mega blocks)

I decided to put down a small blanket to define the play space rather than him having legos scattered all throughout the house.  And unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of him during the actual play time.  

I sorted the legos by color and allowed him to play.  My intent was for him to build, stack, or line up the legos.  He wasn't very interested in this however!  He did end up picking up different colored blocks and mixing up the piles.  I've been teaching him the American Sign Language (ASL) signs for the different colors and shapes so I made sure to say the color and perform the sign for the color of the block that he grabbed.  About halfway through our playtime I noticed that he was starting to "sign" the colors as well (I consider it to be kind of like baby talk.  He's not actually doing a sign for a color yet, he's simply moving his hands in the attempt to sign).  He also had fun placing blocks inside the bag.  I took that opportunity say things like, "that's right, the yellow block is INSIDE the bag" or "there are now 2 blocks inside the bag and the rest of the blocks are OUTSIDE of the bag".  

He did pretty well staying on the blanket and I did have to remind him that the mega blocks needed to stay on the blanket.  I did this by redirecting him towards the blanket if he took a lego somewhere else in the living room.  We ended the activity once I noticed him becoming more interested in his books.  

Happy 1 Month Jesse!!

Guess who's a month old already...that's right little Jesse Mitchell!!  I knew he'd grow up fast and even cried about it the first week (can you believe I cried about my baby growing up fast in the first week??) when I was all hormonal still!

So what is Jesse up to now that he's a month old??  Well besides being much bigger and heavier...

• Jesse is almost too big for his newborn clothes.  He can barely straighten his legs and if it snaps around his belly, well then it barely snaps!
• He can hold his head up all on his own
• Still can't keep the binky in his mouth for very long 
• Has discovered his hands and just today has been able to keep them in his mouth for more than a few seconds
• His movements have become less jerky and more smooth
• He likes to push up with his legs and try to stand while you hold his chest
• Has slept through the night twice already!!  
• Is on an eat/wake/sleep schedule (and sticks to it better than Mommy ever does!)
• Loves bath time and kicks his little legs like a pro swimmer
• Still has blueish grey eyes
• Sleeps in his pack n play right next to Mommy's side of the bed
• Loves his new mobile that hangs over his bed (he used to get very angry when his old mobile would stop after a few seconds...darn dancing bears had to be fired!!)
• Endures tummy time without a fuss
• Loves to look at himself in the mirror

My list could go on forever but you get the gist...he's growing up!

What a big boy!

So here are some of Jesse's long awaited stats (His 6 week appointment is in 2 weeks so we'll see how big he's gotten then!!):

March 26, 2011
7 lbs 14 oz
20.5 in long (I was mistaken about the 21.5)

March 27, 2011
7 lbs. 4 oz.
(this was the morning after a very long and difficult night trying to feed Jesse.  On this day we had to finger feed him because he was not eating enough and was extremely dehydrated.  He was so dehydrated that the midwife could not do his PKU (where they poke his foot and try to fill all these circles on a card with blood).  She was only able to get a few drops of blood and had to poke his foot 4 times!!

March 28, 2011
7lbs 5 oz.
(this morning I had to go see the lactation consultant to see how Jesse was eating)

March 30, 2011
7lbs. 7oz.
20.5 in. long
36 cm. head circumference
Rated a 12 for Jaundice (very low on the scale)
(Jesse's first doctor's appointment)

April 4, 2011
8lbs 1oz
21 in. long
36.8 cm head circumference
(Jesse got circumcised!  My little trooper didn't even cry and Mommy was brave and stayed in the room to hold the little guy's hand!!)

April 13, 2011
9 lbs 6 oz. (70th percentile)
21 in. long (60th percentile)
37.9 cm head circumference (70th percentile)
(We got Thrush and have to take Ginsen Violet to treat it...notice his purple lips)

The stork dropped him off...

It has been some time since I posted anything about Jesse or myself and that is because as you know, Jesse has arrived and as you may not know, Mommy has taken some time to adjust!!

I began having contractions March 25 at 3 a.m.  They weren't strong contractions but definitely noticeable.  I had been slacking off on getting Jesse's room ready so I used that as a means to distract myself from the pain of the contractions.  I pretty much cleaned up his whole room in that one morning.

By afternoon the contractions started getting stronger and I was so ready for Jesse to be here!  Joe and I decided to go to Fred Meyers so that I could do laps and hopefully get the little guy to drop and allow the labor to progress.  The people there must have thought we were crazy!  Here's this huge pregnant woman literally looking like she's ready to pop stopping every few minutes for contractions!!  Lol!!

Well by 6pm the contractions were very strong and getting closer together.  Joe called the birth center and we decided to stay at home for a couple more hours.  By 9pm we called again and were on our way.  When I arrived I was dilated 4cm and my cervix was effaced about 80% and was very soft.  I was Group B Strep positive so I had to be given antibiotics through an IV.  After the IV was hooked up the fun began!

I was able to try just about every method imaginable to manage the pain (minus the drugs).  I was in the shower, the tub, on the bed, on the toilet, doing squats, on my hands and knees, and laying on my side.  It was pretty amazing that I was actually able to fall asleep immediately after a contraction, be passed out for a minute and wake up for the next round!

I honestly cannot say what the worst part of labor is; each part has it's very own awfulness.  I can say that the hardest part though was the very end when I finally felt the urge to push.  By this time it was already March 26 early in the morning.  I ended up on the bed because I was so exhausted and could no longer squat.  This was the only point where I really felt as though I could not do it.  It was so hard and so painful and I was terrified that I would tear!  I was beginning to get discouraged because I would feel the urge to push and then feel Jesse move further down.  I would stop pushing and then feel him move back up.  I felt as though I was losing all the progress I had just made.  The last push was the hardest and most painful!

As soon as Jesse came out I started crying like a big baby!  I don't know if it was excitement over him finally being here and me finally getting to meet him or over the fact that the pain was over!  Probably a little bit of both!

In all I'd have to say that giving birth to Jesse at a birth center was an amazing experience.  I cannot imagine doing it at a hospital!  My midwife and her birth assistant were wonderful and Joe was and awesome coach (I don't know if I could have done it without him!!).  I'm still amazed that I was able to have him without any drugs!!  It blows my mind still today.  This was without a doubt one of the most difficult things that I've ever done and now that I'm feeling better I can say that I wouldn't mind more kids in the future!

The stork dropped off a perfectly healthy, beautiful little boy!  Jesse Mitchell was born March 26 at 4:16 am.  He weighed 7lbs. 14oz. and was 20 inches long!  The Lord has blessed us abundantly for sure!!